


Steps

by MorningSun



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 20:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11654127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorningSun/pseuds/MorningSun
Summary: Spencer remembered standing like this in her old bedroom, telling Toby he was her safe place to land. And after all these years he was again. Doubts weren’t always a bad thing. Sometimes they provided an opportunity to strengthen one’s beliefs. Six years ago their lives had begun to drift in different directions. It had been scary to part, knowing their paths might never cross again, but it had been worth it. They no longer had to sacrifice one dream to have another. They no longer held each other back.





	Steps

**Author's Note:**

> This is a farewell to the first OTP I ever had. A guess at what might have happened a few months after the series finale (based on a few sentences from an interview).

Spencer had not meant to run into him. Well, not technically. She thought she had seen him walk into the grocery store and decided she needed to buy coffee beans. And now there he was – standing in front of the shelf with canned beans in his simple white t-shirt and jeans, looking absolutely sexy.

Just then Toby looked up and a shy smile spread over his face.

            “Spencer,” there was still a delicate note in the way he said her name as if he was still trying to apologize. In his voice she heard the remnants of a lingering guilt, but also, Spencer hoped, the quiet spark of longing.

            “Hey,” she offered and it came out a bit too staged. She saw his smile lean more to one side, “I was just looking for the coffee beans.”

Toby raised an eyebrow.

            “I believe that here you can only find actual beans,” he took a can in his hands and looked at it for a moment. The unsaid floated between them in a heavy, but invisible mist. Truths that hadn’t been said and questions that demanded to be asked and answered. They were both grown-ups now, no longer the confused teenagers divided by secrets. In theory, they should be able to resolve this uncomfortable feeling of being stuck somewhere in between, and yet both of them had hesitated, started sentences in hopes that the other would finish them, but never quite having the courage to do it. At least they did in their heads, Spencer was sure. She saw it in the way Toby creased his forehead trying to find the best words to start a conversation, felt it in the way their bodies inched closer almost invisibly. After Aria’s wedding, they had discussed their lives and what the near future held, pausing after each sentence as if to indicate there would be a place for the other one to step in and be a part of this future too. Back then they had been a bit too shaken by everything that happened with Alex. Days had grown into weeks and by now it had been almost two months and Spencer no longer felt confused or conflicted.

She just missed him.

The feeling was so clean and simple. It reminded her of the first beams of sun after a storm. Like she had been holding her breath for years and was finally ready to let it go.

            “Spence, I…” Toby began, but Spencer cut him off before the moment had passed.

            “Do you want to go get frozen yoghurt? With me?” she asked stepping a bit closer. Toby looked at her a little hesitantly.

            “Please?”

Finally, he relented and nodded.

 

***

They walked around Rosewood going nowhere, in particular, still dancing around the questions that interested them most. Maybe after having their lives dictated by a game for so long they didn’t know better than to play one of their own.

            “How’s the law school?” Toby glanced at Spencer, wanting the triumphant glimmer he knew he would find in her eyes.

            “Thrilling,” she began, “Exhausting. Exciting. Mortifying.”

            “Sounds like you’ve found a place you belong,” Toby added calmly.

She had. What she desperately needed to tell him was that she had also found someone she wanted to belong to. Found and lost and found again, unwilling to make that same mistake again.

            “Are we going to talk about what we really want to talk about?” Spencer asked. The sun was going down over the rooftops, casting a golden shimmer over the windows and cars. They stopped at a street corner, cars drifting past the cross section, each headed to its own destination.

Toby looked up at Spencer slowly, thinking over what he was going to say like he always did. They both stood there quietly, searching for the scars on their hearts, looking for any that hadn’t healed yet. Some were deeper, some shallow, almost forgotten, but each one had left them a bit more cautious, a bit more hesitant to leap again and get hurt again. Only neither one could find a scar that was still open.

Somehow that was even scarier.

Freedom to risk not because A told them to, but because they wanted to.

            “I guess we should,” Toby finally said, “Don’t you think it’s funny how after everything that we’ve been through I’m still afraid to do something wrong?”

He looked at Spencer then without pretences and she took his hands in hers and intertwined their fingers between them to hold onto the sensation of truly being seen.

            “Believe me, I understand. I think that we’ve lived on hope for so long that certainty now feels like a myth,” Spencer brought their hands to her heart, “But I am…certain,” she finished and waited a bit before looking up, terrified of the possibility of being proven wrong.

            “We’ve been certain before,” Toby challenged her. Spencer knew it wasn’t because he didn’t trust her or didn’t feel the same way. He was forcing her to look for counter arguments while they wouldn’t scar as deep. Toby also knew how much Spencer liked to be challenged and how elegantly she could bring down somebody’s whole case just by pointing out one slight inconsistency.

            “I think that we have both graduated from the naïve certainty of two lovesick teenagers in my old bedroom to something more grounded.”

Spencer held their hands to her beating heart and watched Toby’s calm expression. The warm night enveloped their skin, broken only by a light breeze and the occasional chatter of a conversation between people passing by.

Just as Spencer was starting to feel the smallest flicker of fear, Toby pulled her forward and pressed his lips to her fingers for a second.

            “Then let’s start at that. We’ve rushed into so many mistakes in fear of something or someone. Certainty is the liberty to move one step at a time,” Toby pulled Spencer into a hug and they both relaxed just a fraction.

“First embrace, first kiss,” he said softly, “first dinner, first dance.”

All of it without looking over their shoulders.

As much as Spencer wanted to squeeze all of the firsts into the next five minutes, she made herself focus on the promise of certainty. Besides, if they couldn’t quite escape the games, this one she was eager to play.

 

 ***

 

            “Who would have known Toby was such a tease?” Hanna smirked, putting a spoonful of whipped cream into her mouth. Spencer looked at her sideways.

            “I don’t know,” Emily intervened, “He’s always been full of surprises,” she said with a grin and stole a glance at Spencer.

Aria was sipping her milkshake and typing away on her phone, her eyebrows rising every once in a while at the responses.

            “What is it now, Ms Fitz?” Spencer nudged Aria with her elbow, trying to pull her back to the present. Aria looked up a bit startled.

            “What?” She looked at her friends with an endearing expression of cluelessness.

            “This is one of the few times I got Ali to stay with the twins so that I could have some time with you all,” Emily began, then yawned, “And I am trying really hard not to fall asleep, so I would appreciate it if you could join us for a bit.”

Aria sighed and put her phone on the table.

            “Ok, you’re right. I’ve just been a little bit stressed lately. I think I will only be able to sleep properly once this thing with the adopting agency is done.”

            “Is everything alright?” Hanna asked, creasing her forehead.

            “Yes, I think so,” Aria smiled reassuringly, “I’m just afraid something will go wrong and…”

            “Nothing will go wrong,” Spencer reached across the table and squeezed Aria’s hand.

            “You’re probably right,” Aria inhaled deeply and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

            “Better tell us what you’ve planned for the next of your firsts,” she looked at Spencer.

            “Is it weird that I haven’t?” A smiled sneaked onto Spencer’s lips.

            “It is certainly refreshing,” Hanna said with a smile.

Aria’s phoned beeped and just for the tiniest fraction of a second the four of them tensed, a ghost of their past twisting in the shadows of their minds. But there were no more ghosts, no more monsters to keep them awake at night.

            “It’s Ezra,” Aria clarified and picked up her phone again.

 

***

 

Spencer was frantically searching for a case, which would serve as the perfect precedent for the one she and her mother were working on now. Spencer could swear she had just seen it in one of these folders, but now it seemed to have vanished.

Veronica Hastings appeared in the doorway and frowned at the curious sight in front of her.

            “Spencer, there is someone waiting for you at the reception,” she said with a mysterious note in her voice, which completely slipped Spencer’s attention.

            “Tell them that I’m really busy right now,” she didn’t even look up.

            “I think you might want to reconsider on this one,” Veronica stepped inside the office, her heels clicking on the floor.

            “I really can’t right now,” Spencer flicked through the pages, scanning them for the case title.

            “Ok,” Veronica took one last look at her daughter and walked away. Spencer closed one folder, which had proven to be totally useless, and took the next one, fighting back the desire to fling it out of the window.

There was another knock.

            “Mom, I thought I was clear enough.”

The person at the door cleared his throat. Spencer’s head snapped up to find Toby leaning against the doorframe with an expression that was half amused and half worried.

            “Toby,” Spencer let go of the folder and smiled, “What are you doing here?”

Toby pushed away from the doorframe and stepped inside Spencer’s tiny, cramped office with its dark, mahogany furniture and bookcases all around the walls. He glanced around, sliding his fingers along the wood around him.

            “I was in the neighbourhood and it’s lunchtime, so I thought we could go for a coffee and a sandwich.”

Spencer peaked at the folder. The need to find the case was still troubling her, begging her to stay.

Toby was waiting for an answer. Spencer looked up. He glanced at the folder and raised and eyebrow, a smile forming on his lips.

            “Stop it!” She laughed quietly, “It’s a very important case.”

            “Every case is very important to Spencer Hastings,” Toby teased in a totally unharmful way and stepped closer. Close enough for Spencer’s heart to pick up the pace. She stood up and smiled at him coyly, slowly put her hands on Toby’s chest, sliding them up to his shoulders.

            “So…which of the firsts will this be?” Spencer asked innocently. Toby tucked a strand of her hair behind Spencer’s ear and his fingers lingered on her neck. A delightful shiver ran through her body.

            “Let’s find out,” Toby smiled and leaned in. Spencer could feel his heart racing. She felt a bit dizzy from all the longing and the simple desire to kiss him. Their lips were almost touching.

            “Spencer, I’ll need you to do a brief on this one too,” Veronica walked in, carrying a small pile of papers. Spencer and Toby quickly broke apart. Spencer could almost taste the disappointment. Just then Veronica looked up, noticed the two slightly pink faces and shifted uncomfortably on her feet. The corners of her lips crept up.

            “We were about to go for a coffee,” Spencer cleared her throat and went to grab her coat. She slid her arms into the sleeves and moved for the door. Toby followed her.

            “It was nice to see you, Veronica,” he said as they passed Spencer’s mother. Of all the firsts this could have been, it had to be the first time someone walked in on them.

 

***

            “Remind me, why is this happening in my mother’s yard?” Spencer held the door open for Hanna, as she shuffled through it with two bags of groceries. Caleb followed her with four more, shooting an apologetic look at Spencer.

            “Well, you’re the only one with a yard and it would be weird to have a barbeque in a loft.”

Spencer frowned.

            “Your mother has a yard.”

            “She has a terrace. Even I couldn’t fit in there, not to mention all of my friends and potential business partners.”

            “She’s just starting to show, ” Caleb explained, happiness seeping through every pore in his body.

            “Yeah and none of my clothes fit me anymore,” Hanna added.

They put the groceries in the barn’s kitchen.

            “Babe, can you go get the fairy lights? I think I left them in the car,” Hanna turned to Caleb.

            “Sure,” he kissed her forehead and went outside.

            “Em and Ali should be here in a bit,” Spencer said while filling the fridge, “Aria and Ezra might not show up. His mother was in town this week and it was an another disaster.”

            “What?” Hanna exclaimed, “They better show up. Where is my phone? I need to call Aria,” she started patting the pockets of her jacket then moved on to her bag.

Spencer washed the tomatoes and began slicing them. Hanna found her phone and sighed in relief. The door opened carrying the sound of two laughing toddlers from the outside. Alison and Emily, each holding one of the girls, entered the barn.

            “Hold on,” Hanna said to Aria over the phone and covered the microphone with her hand, “You brought the kids?!”

Emily frowned.

            “Of course, we brought the girls,” Alison answered a bit defensively, “I think any one of us can understand that finding a sitter we would trust could be a bit difficult.”

Spencer finished slicing the tomatoes and moved on to the onions.

            “I know you brought your toddlers to wiggle out of doing any preparatory work, but I could really use some help over here,” she peeked over her shoulder with a hopeful look.

Emily glanced at the twins for a moment, then turned to Spencer, “Sure, just let me set up the playpen. Hanna, can you hold Lily?” Emily looked at her friend, who was still talking furiously into the phone. Caleb returned with the fairy lights and put them next to the couch.

            “I think uncle Caleb should do it,” Alison offered, scanning him with her eyes. The Alison stare could still send shivers down their backs.

            “Do what?” mused the slightly confused Caleb.

            “Can you hold Lily while I go to the car, please?” Emily asked.

            “We already asked your wife, but she is a bit too preoccupied to perform aunt duties at the moment,” Alison added, “Although if you ask me, she could use some practice.”

Caleb tucked his head to one side at that giving Alison a scolding look.

            “Just saying,” she broke into a smile and raised her hands in surrender.

            “I’ll hold her,” Caleb took Lily from Emily and rocked her gently in his arms.

            “Hey, Lucas!” Hanna noticed the newcomer before he had properly entered the room, looking slightly misplaced.

            “Hi,” he waved his hand a bit awkwardly at everyone.

            “You’re just in time to help me set up the sound system. Oh, and can someone start assembling the tables, please?”

Everybody in the room aside from Hanna exchanged troubled looks.

            “Lucas, move it, we don’t have the entire day!” Hanna instructed and grabbed the man’s hand, pulling him outside.

Emily returned and her eyes immediately landed on her daughters, her shoulders relaxing a bit. They quickly assembled the playpen and put the twins inside.

            “Now can someone join me?” Spencer implored. Before anyone had had the time to answer, Hanna stormed back inside.

            “Babe, can you help Lucas with the sound, there is some kind of a problem with the wires,” she looked at Caleb, then turned to Alison and Emily, “The tables? Please? I will love you forever.”

Just like that Spencer was left alone in the barn with a pile of vegetables to chop, wondering how she had gotten herself into this in the first place. It was surprisingly quiet now.

            “Need some help with that?” Toby’s voice startled her. Spencer looked up at him and smiled with relief, revelling in the way her stomach tightened at his voice.

            “Yes. Please.” She said slowly, moving a bit to the right to make space at the countertop. He joined her and picked up a bell pepper and a knife.

            “How come you let them throw a barbecue at your place and they still put you on the kitchen duty?” Toby asked half serious.

            “You tell me,” Spencer shrugged, “I’ve actually been thinking about getting my own apartment for a while now. The idea of governing my own life sounds heavenly.”

Toby smiled, “Here in Rosewood?”

Spencer reached for another cucumber and their hands brushed, leaving her skin buzzing with energy. There it was again – a question that was more than one question. Was she staying in Rosewood where he was? Did her future include him?

            “I was thinking of maybe moving to the city,” Spencer said, “Getting away from the old ways.”

            “I’ve been considering moving too,” Toby responded, taking Spencer by surprise. She couldn’t help feeling giddy at the possibility of their lives veering, finally, in the same direction.

            “I could rent an old warehouse and work on my projects, get a tiny apartment…or not so tiny.”

Spencer met his gaze and they both smiled at what he was insinuating.

            “I would bring you coffee to keep you from falling asleep in your old warehouse,” Spencer continued.

Toby chuckled warmly. Spencer wondered how after everything they’d been through he was still the kindest person she knew. Spencer could get used to how easy this was – standing in the kitchen, preparing a meal for a garden party with friends, discussing absolutely ordinary things. There were no more murders or planted evidence, no more messages from A, missing reports, stolen photos, hidden clues.

            “No offence, but I would be the one bringing coffee to you. I saw you at work. You won’t be able to peel yourself away from the law.”

            “I could live with that,” Spencer grinned and nudged Toby with her arm. They turned towards each other, smiling secretively. There was something thrilling in sharing this type of secret with someone. The kind, which couldn’t harm anyone, the kind which really brought people closer instead of apart. The secret, which wasn’t really a secret, but wasn’t yet the truth either.

            “Toby, you’re here!” Hanna exclaimed walking back inside. The moment of ease vanished, sounds bursting back in, time moving forward once again, “The boys could use some extra help out there.”

Toby looked at Spencer as if asking her whether he should stay. She would have loved for him to stay, but Spencer also knew they would have more moments like these in the future, just the two of them.

            “Go help, we’ll talk later,” she told him.

 

_Later_ turned out to be a very vague term. As more and more guests began to arrive, including some very important looking businesswomen and men, Spencer was drawn into one discussion after another, ranging from her political views to her opinion on the newest _Armani_ collection.

Spencer looked over her glass of white wine, scanning the yard for Toby’s light blue shirt.

Ezra was sitting next to her, his pocket constantly buzzing.

            “Don’t you want to answer that?” Spencer asked, “Sounds like it could be something important.”

            “Nope. Just my mother,” Ezra explained and took another sip of his beer, “I think I’ve had just about enough of her.”

Aria walked up to their table and snaked her hands around her husband’s shoulders.

            “Here you are,” she chirped, kissing his temple, “Jenny just emailed me the casting dates for the movie. I’m so excited! I heard we might even get someone famous.”

            “Like Clooney?” Spencer offered.

            “No offence to George, but I think we’re looking for someone a bit younger,” Aria sat down next to Ezra and took a strawberry from the fruit stand. Emily and Alison were dancing to some slow song. The sun was beginning to set, shadows slowly creeping over the yard. It was the perfect time to turn on the fairy lights.

            “Excuse me for a minute,” Spencer stood up and followed the wire inside the barn,

            “Grab some more champagne, will you?” Hanna intercepted her halfway to the house. She looked a bit stressed.

She stepped inside and found the silence incredibly soothing. Spencer reached for the light switch and turned it on, earning a few aahs from the outside.

She put her glass on the table and went to the pantry. Just as she was about to open the door Toby walked out with a plate of canapés.

            “Spencer,” he sounded pleasantly surprised, “I’ve been trying to find you.”

Spencer flashed him a devilish grin and gently took the plate out of his hands and on to the table. Toby didn’t protest. She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back inside the pantry.

            “In case I need some help with the champagne,” she explained. The door closed behind them and Toby’s hands were on Spencer’s waist, her fingers on his neck and in his hair. Their lips finally met, the kiss hungry and a bit rushed. Spencer’s heart was beating almost painfully, the wine a blissful haze in her head. Toby’s hands trailed along her back, stopping on her neck, drawing her closer. Spencer pressed against the shelves behind her and chuckled, Toby was smiling too. He leaned in and kissed her neck, making her fingers dig into his shirt. She felt every touch so vividly while revisiting the lines of Toby’s face. There was so much to remember, so much to touch and kiss. But right now they couldn’t bring themselves to slow down. Their hearts were filled with excitement and giddiness at having stolen another one of their firsts.

            “Do you think we should find the champagne before someone else comes looking for it?” Toby asked her when they finally broke apart.

            “Probably,” Spencer responded, kissing him again.

 

***

Spencer pushed open a clear curtain inside Toby’s workspace, holding two coffee cups in the other hand.

            “Toby, are you here? I know you thought I would be too busy to bring you coffee, but here I am,” she passed shelves with various carpentry tools and turned the corner.

Toby was sitting on a run-down couch with a dark-skinned man in his forties, they were looking at a house plan, having a quiet discussion. Toby was fully immersed in his work, open and eager to explain every last detail of his drawing. Spencer loved seeing him like this. One could rarely find someone who had clicked into the right place in life like a missing puzzle piece.

Toby looked up at hearing Spencer’s voice and his polite smile grew into something deeper. Her stomach fluttered.

            “Spencer, I didn’t know you would be coming,” he apologised, standing up from his seat on the couch, which, Spencer was now sure, he had gotten from some second-hand store.

            “Couldn’t resist proving you wrong,” She said, holding up the coffee cups.

Toby walked to her and cupped her face for a quick kiss.

            “I’m happy you did,” He took one of the cups and returned to the couch, taking Spencer by the hand.

            “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company, otherwise I would have brought a third one,” Spencer said apologetically, offering a smile to the man on the couch.

            “Don’t worry about it,” he said.

            “Spencer, this is Sam, we are currently discussing his future house.”

            “Which I could never fully afford,” Sam scratched his head.

            “And I’ve told you a hundred times that you deserve that house more than anyone, so don’t worry about it. This is exactly why I started the project in the first place,” Toby looked at him, the memory of past conversations passing between the two men.

            “Sam is a war veteran, who had no home to return to,” Toby filled Spencer into the story. She looked at Sam again, her face transforming into an expression of gratitude. He had the perfect posture of someone in the military, she should have noticed sooner.

            “But we are about to change that,” Toby remarked, looking at Sam intently.

            “I don’t want to feel like I owe someone.”

            “You don’t,” Spencer quickly intervened, “You have risked your life for this country and its people, there is nothing that you owe us or anyone. My best friend’s father was in the Pennsylvania National Guard. I saw how hard it was for him to be separated from his family all the time. The least someone like you deserves is a roof over their head.”

Sam looked humbled. The contrast with the neatly dressed, self-serving lawyers and their white collar defendants in expensive suits Spencer was used to seeing every day was jarring.

            “Thank you,” Sam smiled at her.

            “Nothing to thank me for,” Spencer assured him.

            “I’ll email you the revised plan by the end of the week,” Toby told him.

            “Ok, thank you,” they shook hands.

            “It was nice to meet you, Spencer,” Sam turned to her for a second.

            “You too, Sam,” Spencer responded and watched Toby accompany him to the door, discussing some final details.

She looked at the plan of the small house and trailed her fingers over the rooms.

            “How come you didn’t tell me your project was building houses for homeless vets?” Spencer asked Toby when he returned. He looked to the floor.

            “I don’t want to seem like the hero. The project is about them, not me,” he shrugged. Spencer stood up and joined him in front of the only window this space had. Warm sunlight was seeping through it, carving its way across the floor.

She put her hands around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

            “Toby,” Spencer began but words escaped her so she held onto him, hoping he could feel how deeply she respected what he was doing. Toby hugged her back, pressing his lips to her temple. The sunbeams landed on their skin, warm and welcoming. He smelled like sawdust and clean clothes.

Spencer remembered standing like this in her old bedroom, telling Toby he was her safe place to land. And after all these years he was again. Doubts weren’t always a bad thing. Sometimes they provided an opportunity to strengthen one’s beliefs. Six years ago their lives had begun to drift in different directions. It had been scary to part, knowing their paths might never cross again, but it had been worth it. They no longer had to sacrifice one dream to have another. They no longer held each other back.

            “Is there anything I can do to help? Any legal questions?” Spencer asked, hoping he would say yes.

            “I could use a professional’s eyes to go through the contracts,” Toby suggested and Spencer could hear he was smiling.

            “You could stay for dinner,” Toby added.

Spencer leaned back to see his face.

            “Yeah?” She teased, standing on tiptoes to reach his lips. They kissed slowly this time, letting the sun play in their eyelashes, cast shadows over the curves of their faces.

 

***

            “You should visit me sometime next month. I’m really enjoying this new dynamic between us,” Melissa told Spencer over the phone. Toby was behind her, kissing her neck, which made her skin tingle. Spencer giggled and tried to lean away from him to keep track of her conversation with her sister.

            “Aha,” Spencer swirled around in Toby’s hands and placed a finger over his lips, “Totally, I will check the flights tonight.”

            “How’s mom doing?” Melissa asked, clearly not ready to end the conversation. Toby kissed Spencer’s jawline and smiled when as tiny gasped escaped her mouth.

            “Mom’s fine,” Spencer managed, but her voice hitched at the end.

            “Is Toby there? How is he?” Melissa had caught on to what was going on at the other end of the line. Spencer caught Toby’s eyes, which were twinkling with a playful flame.

            “Toby’s great,” Spencer mumbled as he kissed the spot behind her left ear, “The best.”

Melissa laughed, “It sounds like I should call you back later.”

 

***

            “What about Cristopher?” Hanna asked, peeking up from the computer screen. They were gathered in her loft for a girls’ night, “Christopher Rivers. Chris Rivers, or better yet – Topher Rivers. I think it has a nice sound to it.”

            “Do you even know the baby’s sex yet?” Aria asked, taking two slices of cucumber off her eyes. They had all put on facial masks.

            “No, but I feel like it’s going to be a boy,” Hanna explained.

            “I might have to start to think of some baby names too. Everything went smoothly with the agency, so all we have to do is wait,” Aria revealed with a smile.

            “Aria, that is such good news!” Emily perked up from her seat on the armchair.

            “Did we agree on a movie yet?” Aria looked at the TV.

            “Just something in colour, please,” Alison pleaded before Aria had had time to suggest one of her black and white classics, “What about _Dirty Dancing_?”

            “You’ve got my vote,” Spencer said.

“Ooh,” Aria shot a naughty glance at Alison.

            “Can’t we pick something from this decade?” Hanna frowned.

            “You’re one against four,” Alison stopped her advances and looked at Emily, “Right babe?”

            “ _Nobody puts my baby in the corner_ ,” said Emily, leaning in to kiss her fiancé.

 

It was 2:30 in the morning and Spencer was knocking at Toby’s door. He had been away for two weeks, trying to expand his project and she had missed him like crazy. Toby answered the door in his pyjama pants, clearly not expecting any guests at this hour. The outfit, of course, worked to the advantage of both of them.

            “I ditched a girls’ night,” Spencer revealed as if letting him in on the greatest crime she had ever committed. Frank Sinatra on vinyl was playing quietly in the background. Toby had rescued and fixed a broken-down record player from somebody’s yard sale.

            “You ditched the girls night to come here?” Toby smiled.

            “The tables have turned,” Spencer said drawing Toby close, pressing against his warm skin.

            “Welcome back,” she breathed out, “Why are you still awake?”

            “I’m finishing Sam’s house plan,” Toby explained, but his attention was starting to drift away from work to Spencer’s mischievous grin. His hair was gloriously dishevelled. Toby looked tired and a bit overworked but Spencer recognised the need to keep going in his eyes – the one she so often felt herself.

She took his face between her hands and kissed him.

            “Hi,” Spencer whispered.

            “Hello,” Toby said against her lips. They stood like that for a while, then broke apart.

He went back to the table and sat down at his computer, the house plan taking up the entire screen. Spencer hung her jacket on the rack and went to stand beside him, placing her hands on Toby’s tense shoulders.

He relaxed under her touch a little bit.

            “I’ll put the water to boil,” Toby suggested after a moment as if the thought had got lost on its way to the surface. He really was tired.

            “I’ll do it,” Spencer bent down and kissed his temple. He didn’t protest. She went over to the tiny kitchen area and poured water into Toby’s ancient kettle.

Spencer recognised the gentle chords of _Stars Fell On Alabama_ , accompanied by the gentle crackle of the record player.

Maybe it was the Dirty Dancing, maybe it was simply Sinatra on vinyl, but Spencer returned to Toby who was minutes from passing out at his desk and leaned into his ear.

            “Dance with me?” she asked. Toby didn’t meet her eyes, but Spencer still saw him smile tiredly. She pulled him up and wrapped her hand around his neck.

            “Should this count as the first dance?” he asked.

            “I doubt that either one of us wants to count in that fiasco at the barbecue.”

            “Agreed.”

They swayed to the music slowly, drunk on each other’s presence and the lack of sleep. Toby was still wearing only the pyjama bottoms. He turned Spencer under his hand and twisted her in close to her chest, resting his chin on her shoulder.

_I never planned in my imagination_

_A situation so heavenly_

_A fairy land where no one else could enter_

_And in the center just you and me_

 

            “Can I have the pyjama top?” she asked, her cheeks heating up from a memory from a hundred years ago.

Toby released her so that Spencer could turn to face him.

            “Any time,” he promised. They kept swaying on their bare feet, planting the faintest sleepy kisses on each other’s lips, hands and neck as the night ticked by.

 

_My heart beat like a hammer_

_My arms wound around you tight_

_And stars fell on Alabama_

_Last night_

 

***

Spencer woke up to empty sheets and the warmth of a Sunday sun. Her disappointment would have shown more if it hadn’t been for the smell of waffles in the air. She could tell it was still early – the promise of a full day ahead of her.

Spencer stretched and enjoyed the sensation for a few moments. Toby’s bedroom was small and refreshingly bare. It had the bed, an in-built closet and a dresser of lightly stained wood. Spencer recognised his work immediately, admiring the curved lines and the immaculate finish. Toby had never been one for the knick-knacks and yet the room still felt completely his.

She slipped out of the bed and walked to the other room, Toby’s pyjama top ending just above her hips, the sleeves much too long.

He was facing the stove, working the waffle pan, moving to a silent rhythm.

            “Good morning,” Spencer said, her voice a bit raspy. She walked over to Toby and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips to his bare shoulder.

He turned around and put his arms around her waist, neglecting the waffles for a moment.

            “Hey,” he said. Their lips met in a kiss. Just the type you wanted to get on a Sunday before the beginning of another week of work. The rest of the days always seemed to be leading to something, rushing off to another morning, stealing time until the next important event but Sundays were always in the present. Sundays were here and now. Spencer smiled at the thought that her here and now was Toby, waffles and the Sunday news on the TV.

Toby let his forehead rest against hers for a moment.

            “You’ll burn the waffles!” Spencer warned him, but there was nothing serious in her smile. In reality, she didn’t mind this kind of carelessness.

           “ _C'est dommage_ ,” Toby smiled, bringing up a memory from a thousand years ago.

“ _C'est la guerre_ ,” Spencer responded before pulling him closer for another kiss.

 

***

Spencer walked out of _Hasting &Hastings_ after what had felt like the longest day in the history of time. Her feet ached, her shoulders felt incredibly tense and all her nerves seemed to be on edge.

Until she looked up and noticed Toby leaning against her car right in front of the office. They weren’t even supposed to see each other tonight. Spencer had been sure he was working late. Yet here he was and the happy relief she felt when seeing him felt overwhelming. It was the promise of being able to collapse into Toby’s strong arms and forget every overly privileged client that had troubled Spencer that day.

As she neared him, Toby pushed off the car and was ready to say something.

            “I love you,” Spencer said from two steps away and stopped. The words came out so effortlessly and seemed to match the mess of emotions she was feeling at the moment perfectly. It had been so long since she had last said it.

            “ _I love you_ ,” Spencer repeated, letting it sink in. A tender smile appeared on Toby’s lips. She walked the remaining steps and took his face in between her hands.

            “Love you.”

Spencer was used to being the one to say _you too_. She remembered saying that to Toby’s _I love you_. This was the same and yet completely different. It felt just like it had back then and nothing like it at all. That love still waited in the corners of their hearts, but it had been built on by their friendship and the years they spent apart, and now also the months they spent growing back together. _Love_ wasn’t just a name for a feeling or a state of heart. It was the name for the flash of everything between _I_ met _you_.

            “I love you too,” Toby said softly. There were a hundred other words to say, but instead, they looked into each other’s eyes before Toby pulled Spencer into an embrace and she breathed out against his shoulder. He rubbed Spencer’s back, forcing her muscles to relax a little, releasing all of the hardships of the working day.

            “Let’s go home,” Toby whispered. Spencer didn’t know if he meant his home or her home. She just knew that home had stopped being about a place a while ago.

 

***

 

“A contract,” Toby read from a flash card. They were sitting on the opposite sides of Spencer’s couch. He was helping her study for one of her exams.

            “ _a voluntary, legally enforceable agreement_ ,” She began. Toby nodded.

            “And?” he led on, asking her to continue.

            “ _An exchange of economic values_ ,” Spencer added, inching towards him on the couch.

            “And?” Toby pressed on, although his eyes were playing a whole different game. Spencer scooted forwards.

            “Come on, do I really have to recite the full definition?” she started leaning towards Toby, but he masterfully avoided her advances.

            “Uh –uh! No touching before you answer all of these correctly!”

Sadly, those were indeed the rules Spencer had invented, so she sighed and straightened up.

            “Ok, the third one is _at least one premise to carry out or refrain from some event both now and in the future_.”

            “Capacity,” Toby read from the last flash card in his hand. Spencer’s stomach was suddenly overcome by wild fluttering.

            “ _The legal ability to enter into a contract_ ,” she threw out as fast as she could and crossed the couch just as Toby let the card fall from his hand to meet Spencer halfway.

 

***

Spencer collapsed onto the kitchen floor feeling like the whole world was crashing in on her. The law school, her job at _Hastings &Hastings_, the questioning looks from anyone who had heard of the game and Alex trying to put two and two together in their minds. Some people went as far as to ask whether Spencer visited her sister.

On a regular day Spencer felt like she was truly over the horrors of her past. But on the odd one the past came rushing back, irreversible and insistent.

Spencer sat on the floor leaning against the table and stared at her briefcase. Several pages had fallen onto the floor. The same floor she had walked on while Alex’s Endgame was toying with their lives. The same one Melissa and Ian had begun to build their life on. How could Spencer get over something that was still in the present?

She reached for her phone and called Toby. He answered after a few seconds with a calm hello.

            “Remember when you told me that if I ever wanted to run away again, I should call you first?”

            “Yes.”

            “Well,” Spencer looked at the room around her, “This is me calling.”

 

They ended up on the hill overlooking Rosewood, which felt far enough to create an illusion of an escape.

            “It’s been ages since we were last here,” Spencer thought out loud, watching millions of glittering lights scattered across the town, “Why did we stop coming?”

            “I think it had more to do with us losing the sense of who we were together and apart,” Toby said, memories swirling across his face. A moment of wise silence passed between them.

            “You know how I knew I was falling in love with you?” he asked, neither of them moving. The words still stirred up something in Spencer’s chest. A mixture of happiness, guilt and nostalgia.

            “No,” she whispered.

            “Before that first morning outside the motel and the afternoons in your bedroom I had never imagined the future because I couldn’t think of one good thing to look forward to. But with you I found myself thinking of the future. At first it wasn’t much – just what we would do after school or on weekends. Then I let myself think further than that. I thought about my job and how my life would turn out. And you were always there,” Toby looked out at the twinkling lights.

            “Until you weren’t and I pushed that future to the back of my mind. It got lost somewhere in the whole mess we went through. _I got lost_. It’s taken me years to find my way back to the place where I belong and to have the courage to do what makes me happy…Even if it’s not always easy.”

Glimmers of memories rushed into Spencer’s mind, mirroring the view in front of them. She remembered the first A message she had received, remembered the feverish clue seeking and how everyone has looked like a potential murderer. Spencer remembered French lessons on the porch and unexpected kisses. She remembered falling in love and tearing it apart. There was a lingering guilt and the remnants of a soul-deep fear, the hurt of a betrayal and the shyness of starting again. There was also the hollow fear of having passed the point of no return.

And yet, something had changed. For the first time all of it truly felt like the past.

            “And now?” Spencer asked quietly, lacing their fingers together. Toby squeezed her hand.

            “ _And now?”_ He repeated the question.

Spencer looked at Rosewood and wondered how such a small town could hold everything they had gone through. It was a snow globe. The problem was – she was done living inside the frames someone else had crafted. Snowglobes were only pretty from the outside. Inside the air was stale.

            “Come to New York with me?” Spencer spoke and the sincerity of her own words took her by surprise. She glanced at Toby.

            “I don’t want to dream of a future for us anymore, I want to live it.”

He smiled with an ease that made his eyes light up. Spencer’s heart beat faster. Another thought began to form into words and frankly, it scared her. She was used to stating and demanding, she was used to the position of confidence and strength. It had scarcely occurred to her that strength could also be found in asking.

            “Then we should do tha…” Toby started to say, but Spencer cut him off.

            “Marry me,” she said and turned fully towards Toby, leaving Rosewood behind. His lips were slightly parted as he searched for a response.

            “Spencer…”

            “ _Marry me_ ,” Spencer repeated, a smile slowly overtaking her face, “I don’t want there to be a future in which we are apart.”

            “ _Spence_ …” Toby tried to interrupt her again.

            “You’re my family now.”

            “I didn’t take the ring with me here,” Toby managed to say.

            “ _What?”_

Toby looked at her with complete adoration and a mocking smile.

            “Yes.”

            “What do you mean _you didn’t take the ring_?”

Toby took Spencer’s face between his hands, ensuring he had her full attention.

            “ _Yes_ ,” he repeated, “I _will_ marry you.”

 

 

***

            “So, will your old new boyfriend accompany you to the wedding?” Alison asked.

Spencer felt a little triumphant that after years of clue-seeking and scheming her friends still hadn’t noticed the ring. Guess she had finally become a good liar. The thin silver band with the beautiful diamond sparkled on her ring finger.

            “No,” Spencer put down her menu to get a better look at her confused friends, “but my fiancé will.”

Four pairs of eyes snapped to her left hand.

            “You’ve been engaged _this entire lunch_ and you didn’t _tell us_?” Exclaimed Hanna, taking Spencer’s hand to get a better look at the ring.

            “We all like to keep a secret from time to time,” Spencer said.

            “No, I’m done with the secrets,” Emily declared. Alison looked at her in amusement.

            “Really? Is that why I found you in the middle of the night watching that new _HBO_ show on _Netflix_ alone in the nursery?”

Emily looked like a teen busted for sneaking out of the house at night.

            “That’s different. I know you don’t like it so I decided to watch it on my own.”

           “I can’t believe that soon all of us will be married,” Aria spoke through Alison’s and Emily’s domestic bickering.

            “Hanna, to whom are you texting again?” Spencer cocked an eyebrow at her friend.

            “Caleb,” Hanna looked up for a second, “I need to know if he knew about this before me and kept it a secret.”

            “Relax, Hanna,” Spencer looked at her a bit worriedly, “I haven’t even told my mom yet.”

            “Yes, but Toby might have,” Hanna didn’t back down. However, a frown of confusion appeared on her face after her own words, “I mean, not to your mom, but to Caleb. You’d be surprised at how much men like to _gossip_.”

            “I don’t think that word applies to this situation,” Spencer added.

            “I’m happy for you,” Alison joined the conversation, “But I’m still more excited about my own wedding,” she leaned in to kiss Emily on the cheek. Emily smiled and rested her head on Alison’s shoulder.

            “Woah, Mona and her hot French boyfriend just bought an apartment in Paris with one of those roof garden things,” Hanna was still looking at her phone, “and a balcony.”

            “Weren’t you texting Caleb?” Aria frowned.

           

 

***

 

Spencer and Toby were sitting inside their two-bedroom city apartment surrounded by piles, columns and stacks of boxes, folders, tools, wallpaper rolls and a thousand other things. They were too exhausted to muster up the energy to actually sit on the couch, so they finally opted for pressing their back against it and sitting on the fluffy rug. Spencer’s hair was brought back into a messy ponytail, Toby’s shirt desperately needed a wash. Empty take out boxes stood to their right. The apartment was messy, but it was _theirs_. Spencer hadn’t an idea of how long it would take them to sort it all out with Toby working on three houses at once and her commuting back to Rosewood to work with her mother at _Hastings &Hastings_ every morning, but she could see this becoming their home.

It already felt like one.

Their fingers lay intertwined between them, their shoulders brushing.

            “What’s on your mind?” Toby asked.

            “Right now just _newborns with six-packs_ ,” Spencer answered and Toby turned his head sideways to look at her. She squeezed his hand and put her head on his shoulder.

Once when she was done with law school and he had found his footing in the city they could think about expanding their family. Have a small Cavanaugh-Hastings clan with all the brains and all the heart. To Spencer’s sleep-deprived mind that thought seemed heavenly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> :)


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